Iranian Male and Female EFL learners’ Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies: Links to Their Reading Comprehension Performance
الموضوعات :Sepideh Mohammadi Bazargani 1 , Zohreh Seifoori 2 , Nasrin Hadidi Tamjid 3
1 - Department of English, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
2 - Department of English, Science and Research Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tehran, Iran
3 - Department of English, Tabriz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Tabriz, Iran
الکلمات المفتاحية: reading comprehension, EFL learners, Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies,
ملخص المقالة :
Reading comprehension is a fundamental language skill for many EFL learners. This study was conducted to compare Iranian male and female EFL learners' tripartite reading strategy use, Problem Solving Reading Strategies (PSRSs), Global Reading Strategies (GRSs), and Support Reading strategies (SRSs), and their relationship to their reading comprehension. To serve the purpose, 80 undergraduate EFL learners, 40 females and 40 males, majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT) and English Translation (ET) at Islamic Azad University-Tabriz were selected randomly. The research variables were measured based on the participants’ performance on the reading section of the PET test and the Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategy Inventory (MARSI) (Mokhtari & Reichard, 2002). The research data were analysed through Independent Samples T-test and a Standard Multiple Regression (MR) analysis. The results revealed significant differences between male and female participants in terms of their reading comprehension and perceived use of PSRSs. It was also exhibited that for male participants, only SRSs were the statistically significant predictor of males’ reading comprehension while for females it was the PSRSs that made significant contribution to explain reading comprehension. The gender variation in reading comprehension, reading strategies and the correlational pattern between these two variables exists. Such variations have to be addressed in the process of teaching and suggestions will be made as how teacher trainers, syllabus designers, and individual university students majoring in English Language Teaching (ELT) and English Translation (ET) can apply the findings to promote their outcome.
References
- Amiryousefi, M., Dastjerdi, H. V., & Tavakoli, M. (2012). Iranian EAP students reading strategy use and their beliefs about reading comprehension: Toward an EAP reading model. World Applied Sciences Journal, 18 (8), 1172-117
- Anderson, N. J. (2002). The role of metacognition in second/foreign language teaching and learning: ERIC Digest. Washington, DC: ERIC Clearinghouse on Languages and Linguistics.
- Auerbach, E., & Paxton, D. (1997). It’s not the English thing. Bringing reading research into the ESL classroom. TESOL Quarterly, 31, 237–261.
- Bagheri Masoudzadeh, A., Rostami Abousaeedi, A., Afraz, Sh. (2020). The Effect of Task- Based Language Teaching (TBLT) on Iranian EFL Learners’ Reading Comprehension Ability (Teachers’ Perception in Focus). Foreign Language Research Journal, 9(4), 1105-1130.
- Brantmeier, C. (2003). Beyond linguistics knowledge: Individual differences in second language reading. Foreign Language Annals, 36(1), 33-43.
- Brantmeier, C. (2004). Gender, violence-oriented passage content, and reading in a second language. The Reading Matrix, 4(2), 1-19.
- Chastain, K. (1988). Developing second language skills: Theories and practice. Chicago: HBJ.
- Dole, J. A., Brown, K. J., & Trathen, W. (1996). The effects of strategy instruction on the comprehension performance of at-risk students. Reading Research Quarterly, 31(1), 62-88.
- Dole, J. A., Duffy, G. G., Roehler, L. R., & Pearson, P. D. (1991). Moving from the old to the new: Research on reading comprehension instruction. Review of Educational Research, 61, 239-264.
- Ediger, A. (2001). Teaching children literacy skills in a second language. In M. Celce-Murica (Ed.), Teaching English as a second or foreign language (pp. 153-169). USA: Heinle & Heinle.
- Estacio, M. J. M. (2013). Bilingual readers’ metacognitive strategies as predictors of reading comprehension. Philippine ESL Journal, 10( 2), 179-199.
- Farhady, H. (1998). Constructing reading comprehension tests. Roshd Foreign language Teaching Journal, 13(49), 37- 48.
- Fitri, D., & Ginting, D., (2021). EFL Teacher’s Perception on Reading Strategies Taught in High Schools. Jurnal Penelitian dan Pengkajian Ilmu Pendidikan: e-Saintika, 5 (2), 104-117.
- Goh, C., & Foong, K. (1997). Chinese ESL students’ learning strategies: A look at frequency, proficiency, and gender. Journal of Applied Linguistics, 2(1), 39-53.
- Grellet, F. (1981). Developing reading skills: A practical guide to reading comprehension exercises. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Griva, E., Alevriadou, A., & Geladari, A. (2009). A qualitative study of poor and good readers’ strategy use in EFL reading. The International Journal of Learning, 16(1), 51-72
- Griva, E., Alevriadou, A. & Semoglou, K. (2012). Reading preferences and strategies employed by primary school students: Gender, socio-cognitive and citizenship issues. International Education Studies Journal, 5(2), 24-34.
- Hsu, S. C. (2006). The reading strategies used by EFL technical students. Journal of Nanya, 26, 159-174.
- Karbalaei, A (2010). A comparison of the metacognitive reading strategies used by EFL and ESL readers. The Reading Matrix, 10(2), 165-180.
- Krashen, S. (1981). Second language acquisition and second language learning. Oxford: Pergamon Press.
- Lee, M. L. (2012). A study of the selection of reading strategies among genders by EFL college students. Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 64 (9), 310-319.
- Liao, X., Zhu, X. & Zhao, P. (2022). The mediating effects of reading amount and strategy use in the relationship between intrinsic reading motivation and comprehension: differences between Grade 4 and Grade 6 students. Reading and Writing, 35, 1091–1118
- Machado, J. M. (2010). Early childhood experiences in language arts: Early literacy. Belmont: Wadsworth.
- Mohseni, F., Seifoori, Z. & Ahangari, S. (2020). The impact of metacognitive strategy training and critical thinking awareness-raising on reading comprehension. Cogent Education, 7(1).
- Mokhtari, K., & Reichard, C. (2002). Assessing students’ metacognitive awareness of reading strategies. Journal of Educational Psychology, 94(2), 249-259.
- Nation, I. S. P., & Newton, J. (2009). Teaching ESL/EFL listening and speaking. New York: Routledge.
- Nugroho, R., Bharati, D. A. L. & Hartono, R. (2019). English Teachers’ Perception on Strategies in Teaching Reading Comprehension to Motivate the Students. English Education Journal 9 (1), 56-61.
- Oxford, R. L. (1990). Language learning strategies: What every teacher should know. New York: Newbury House Publishers.
- Phakiti, A. (2009). A closer look at gender and strategy use in L2 reading. Language Learning, 53, 649-702.
- Rezabeigi, M., Maftoon, P., Abbasian, G. (2021). On the effect of efl teachers’ autonomy-supportive behaviors on efl learners’ readiness for autonomy. Journal of Foreign Language Research, 11 (1), 81-96.
- Samuel, S. J., & Kamil, M. L. (1984). Models of the reading process. In P. D. Pearson (Ed.), Handbook of reading research (Volume 2, pp 140). New York: Longman.
- Schueller, J. (2004). Gender and foreign language reading comprehension: The effects of strategy training. In C. Brantmeier (Ed.), Adult foreign language reading: Theory, research and implications (pp.147-167). Charlotte, NC: The University of North Carolina at Charlotte Press.
- Sheikh, I., Soomro, K. A., & Hussain, N. (2019). Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies, Reading Practices and Academic Attainments of University Students. Journal of Education and Educational Development, 6(1), 126-137.
- Sheorey, R., & Mokhtari, K. (2001). Differences in the metacognitive awareness of reading strategies among native and non-native readers. System, 29(4), 431-449.
- Talebi, S. & Fallahi, J. (2021). Cross-Linguistic Transfer of Reading Ability: Evidence from Gender Roles in L1 (Persian) and L2 (English) Interdependence. Foreign Language Research Journal, 10(4), 814-841.
- Tavakoli, H. (2014). The Effectiveness of Metacognitive Strategy Awareness in Reading Comprehension: The case of Iranian university EFL students. The Reading Matrix, 14(2), 314-336.